THE WEALTH OF POVERTY BAY.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVI, Issue 2216, 13 June 1908, Page 3

THE WEALTH OF POVERTY BAY.

A GLIMPSE OF THE BACK COUNTRY. THE UPPER RUAKITUIM (By our 'Correspondent.)

While tho resident® of Gisborne are fully ulivo to tlio great future which awaits their town they are scarcely aware of tho causes which are contributing to it. Tho vast area of virgin country lying north, south and west is being gradually broken in to the needs of man by those hardy pioneers who have tlio courage and strength ,to .endeavor to carve out a homo in tho wildornoss. The discouragements these men experience, the vicissitudes they undergo, are not always compensated for by subsequent .good fortune. It is on© tilling buying good bush land at, say £1 per acre, but quite another to so improve it that it will make an adequate return within three or four' years at the least. There are so many contingencies likely to. inriso beforo the ultimate wished-fpr end is attained. In tlio first place if the acquired area is romoto from sources of supply, tlio expense of getting stores over bush tracks and uuroaded wildernesses is a •heavy impost. The felling of the bush and blearing of the land, tllio sowing Of suitable grasses, the 'fencing and fulfilling nil tho requirements to create a- .good grazing run. out of bush land is ia heavy tax on the resources of the settlor, ami besides, oven when all this lias been accomplished, prices may, as is the present case with wool, 'suddenly drop to a minimum which, .under tlio circumstances makes its production Anything but a paying venture. >ln one respect the lot of tho baokblock settler can be greatly relieved and mitigated. That is by providing good roads. The Government shows too little sympathy with the trials of tho out-back settler. Vast sums of money are spent in acquiring big estates close to tho towns, dn cutting them lip, reading them and so on, which if expended on the judicious reading of tho back-blocks and tho opening-up of vast areas lying idle, or merely propagating noxious weeds, would amply provide sufficient outlet for all those desiring to settle on the land for a generation. Settlement in the back-blocks is more hampered l by the want of roads than .anything else. .In many instances the old Maori tracks have to be .used, following the spin's in an erratic fashion and over which even the pack-ihorscs can scarcely struggle with anything like a load in the finer weather. Rootling the back-blocks should bo the dominant plank in the platform of any, candidate seeking the goodwill of the settlers in the impending election. Platitude, though the expression may have become through its innate .truth and long use, there is no doubt these independent sot,tiers are “the backbone of the country.” One of the most attractive and at the same time one of tho most potent factors in the future prosperity, of Gisborne is that wide extensive valley, the Kiuaki'turi. Its scenic attractions alone are remarkable. At its exit are tho 'famed Te Reinga falls, the most beautiful series of cascades in the island. Gorge after gorge of surpassing beauty open out on its flanks anil nowhere is the majesty of tho native bush more apparent. From commanding heights the ocean stretches Wairoa-warils, and on a. calm night the intermittent, flash from the Portland Island light breaks on the void. The surrounding features of the country, such as Pnrikanapa (shining cliff), 'Mr. Lysnar’s station, tho spot where To Kooti is supposed to lliavo buried his accumulated treasure, AVliakapunape, the aspiring ridge, rising like a Gibraltar, which defines the great Mangapoiko Valiev, tho shortest and most practicable route between Gisborne and Wairoa, and again to the west the great Panekiri bluff, which overhangs Lake Waikaremoana. Oil every hand are great landmarks'- associated with Maori traditions, such as Abe Mami (roasted'bird) a spot where tlio nomadic native could always satisfy his penchant for feathered game. Rising from tlio yalley flats the country is rough a ml* precipitous, and even under its half-settled condition, those who negotiate the tracks are no longer surprised that Te ICooti evaded the Pakelia troops in these mountains fastnesses.

The. Maori -tr icks follow the spurs as in heavily timbered count,ry the bus'll is generally tligOit at 'the tops of the ridges. Tlio novice to bill-coun-try. finds it distressing, anil generally one spur is surmounted only to reveal another, and a circuitous track is followed to attain the desired point. The timber is heavy on the hillsides, totara, rimu, 'kaikatea, and hinau abounding. It is also what the buoilmen call dirty country, being densely scruibed, which, at any rate, as a sigh of the productive capacity of the soil.

The lower portion of the valley is cleared and grassed and there .could be no hotter sheep country in the world. The grass takes well and Mr Fred Martin’s station, where he has lately put 1600 sheep on to three hundred acres of turnips, ds evidence that good fattening farms can be established here, as the sheep are getting into the pink of condition during the winter months. The .altitude also secures title country from any drought dn the ilryest summer, and the .grass is fresh and green the whole year round. Mr Bootlimnn ig greatly improving his run of three thousand acres. Both he anil Mr 'Martin are putting down a considerable area of bush this year anil fencing on an extensive scale. Mr Martin is Qiavin,g several thousand feet of rirnu timber sawn to build a'permanent residence. The property, under his manager. Mr James Johnstone; is rapidly becoming one of the best in the Upper Ruakituii.

Mr Mills is fortunate in having included in his run extensive flats at tho valley bottom. Just beyond his property, where the valley branches off into two smaller valleys, gangs of men under 'the' co-operative svstem and Mr Strauclnn’s direction, are putting" in la road to the large blocks of some 10000 acres, which the. Government are throwing open to settlement in the course of the next few months. This country is not so heavily timbered as the lower portion of the valley nor so precipitous. It is excel’ent sheep land and in tho projected arpas of from two to three thousand acre sections, will oarry a lirgo number of sheep. Mr Farncy and his gang of surveyors are making good progress with the .work of cutting up this laud, which it- was some time ago announced would he !)allotted for in September or October next.

Another settler in this direction who shows his faith in the future of the district is Mr. Bellerby. He is spending a considerable amount on improvements. Bad roads hamper more rapid progress as everything has to come in per nackhorsc over a dubious bridle track, -and the bridge over the river just above the To Reinga falls is in such a condition tliat it is unsafe for any heavy traffic. Tlie laxity of tlie Wairoa County officials i s declared to be responsible for this. There is an alternative route into the valley from the AVairon side branching off from Oliuka (Air D. E. E. Neill’s station) in the AVaikaremoana Valley. As there are no rivers to cross except the Mangaritlie in its upper reaches .and the grade is good. This is becoming one of tho principal_ i;<>utee for the bringing in of supplies. Although this country is only now being exploited by the pakeba it has long heen traversed by the Maoris. There are large pas in many of the valleys, and in the block of country soon to be thrown open by the Government; there are traces of Native inhabitants, which, on investigation, promise to be interesting to the anticiuarv is an index to the former life of the Maori. Maori tracks and here and there old clearings testify to the aiomadie nature of the secluded tribes who :fo'-mer.ly dwelt here “far from the maddening crowd.” In one place right up on a dividing spur on Mr F. Martin's property miles away from -any liver is a great canoe, fashioned out off a large totara, It is forty feet long.

Tho woiuler is how the ’Natives gotthese canoes to the Water. , ' • Tin's country, how over,' is being rapidly settled and the cry of tlio settlers is for roads, iso mo of tlioso who linvo been .bwolvo years in the valley complain that nothing has boon done for them, and thoir rates aro expended for tho 'benefit of those who are already limply provided for in this respect. But 'there is no doubt that generally while tho back-blocks settler bus the hardest row to hoe ho fine tlio least consideration- extended to him by an unsympathetic Gove rnmonit whoso chief euro appeal's to bo tlio fostering of tho vote of the city worker.